The Truth in Lies
by BlueRoseLady
Summary: Kelsey is an orphan in a place tht she hates She wants to get out of the orphanage but she doesnt want new parents She is almost 18 and is so close to finally leaving behind this life when she finds her true love will her plans change?
1. Prologue

Prologue

My decisions? Not very good lately. I wish I had chosen something else on all of them. Now, because of them, I am facing the worst decision I have ever face and I never wanted to face it. My life had changed dramatically in those decisions, and I don't believe I will ever be the same person I was just a month ago. My decision that I faced now was a difficult one and I couldn't believe I was faced with it. I couldn't believe that there was no possible way out. My parents are probably looking down on me from Heaven, if I believed in such a place, and crying at what I have done. Right now I was faced with the decision to either kill my one true love or my only living family member. And I knew which one they would want me to kill.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Kelsey, get down here now!"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm still getting ready!" I yelled back.

Donna was always yelling at me. Anyone could tell that I wasn't her favorite one. Out of all the kids in this house, I wasn't surprised that I wasn't her favorite. Anyone else was always sucking up to her, acting all goody-goody around her just so she would find someone to adopt them.

I had chosen that I didn't want to get adopted, but I also didn't want to stay here. No one would ever replace my parents, and I wouldn't let anyone try. Soon I was going to be eighteen, and then I would finally get out of this rat-hole for good.

I would take my little sister and run away, adopting the idea of being her guardian. I had already told her my plan, and she was ready and willing to go whenever I was. I knew she liked it here, and I would let her choose again when it came time for me to leave, but I think she wanted to stay with me and she liked the idea of me being her guardian.

"Well hurry up!" Donna yelled.

I was still surprised that she hadn't started calling me dirty names yet, I had. Maybe she couldn't because if she did, they would take away all the orphaned kids, if I took it to court. I laughed at that. It would be fun to sue her because of verbal abuse. She would most likely want to kill me.

I quickly ran a brush through my short, red hair. In the back it reached to my shoulders, but in the front I had bangs and some of it cut off short by my chin. It framed my high cheekbones, my glossy red lips, my long eyelashes, my button nose, and my dark brown eyes. I could always see why people thought they were black.

I brushed my teeth and applied my make-up for the day.

"Are you almost done yet!?" She yelled again.

I ignored her this time, rushing to my room that I shared with my sister and one other girl that my sister had become friends with. I opened a drawer and took out a dark blue tank top and some jean shorts putting them on quickly before I became really irritated with her.

"Come on!" She yelled again.

I came down the stairs, sure that I wasn't the only one not ready yet, though she only yelled at me. Typical Donna, I told you she hated me, and that was a good thing, because I hated her. I came down the stairs and saw that my assumptions were correct, I only saw five kids standing with her in the entryway. Five kids out of ten, not counting me.

I looked at Donna and she glared at me saying, "Well _finally_," emphasizing the word 'finally' very clearly. I looked back to the kids, finding my little sister easily. I smiled at her and she answered with a worrying smile. She was probably worried that I was going to be in trouble, but I knew that Donna's bark was much worse than her bite.

My sister was five years old now and this was her first year at school. She was in kindergarten and she had already told me about many of her new friends. She had short red hair, just like I did except hers was all one length, cutting off just below her shoulders. Her eyes weren't quite as dark as mine, but they were pretty dark. The darkness came from our mother, and the lightness in her eyes came from our father. Both of our parents had red hair, so it was obvious that we had both inherited that from them.

Her eyelashes were long, just like mine. I realized a lot, that she looked just like me most of the time. Others told us that a lot too.

She was sitting next to our roommate; she was the only friend that she had found so far. We usually lost some every month, but we would gain two more for every one that we lost. So we found that we had many kids living in one small house, but most of them were only infants.

As I walked past Donna I glared at her, and she glared back. Donna had very short hair, only reaching to her chin. It was an ugly brown and her face was full of wrinkles. Her lips were really red, only because of her lipstick; you could really tell that she had some on. It really showed against her skin, which looked like she had gone tanning a little too many times in one month. The color did not look good on her and I would have laughed, but that would have tipped her off. I wanted her to go all day with that on and have anyone who sees her in the street start laughing. Then I would laugh my head off. So I just glared at her, trying not to let my humor show on my face.

When I was too far past her to stare at her without turning around, I faced forward and finished walking to stand by my sister.

"Hi Kelsey!" She bounced.

"Hi Krista." I wasn't nearly as excited as she was, but I was still excited. I let my excitement cover my voice.

"Are you ready for school? I am. I can't wait. It is so much fun to be at my school. I love it there." She kept going on, but I blocked her out, nodding sometimes. I was glad that she was happy to be at school, but also not so glad because I knew that she wouldn't be able to go to school if she came to live with me. I wouldn't be able to pay for one kid to go to school, let alone two. I would be broke and she wouldn't get to go to school. That was the only down side to my plan. We didn't have any money. It would be like starting from scratch, and I didn't like taking her out of school, but that is what I had to do if she wanted to come with me.

We stayed there for maybe fifteen minutes, waiting for the rest of them and Donna didn't say one thing to them. Nope, not one, she saves it all for me. Aren't I just so special? Yeah, that's my life.

Finally, we walked out to the van. It was my day to get the front seat, but guess what happened. Yep, Donna put someone else there and I had to sit in the back squished between two people. With I don't know how many people in all back there; I was too squished to look. Sadly, all I could do was sit there and roll my eyes, because if I started arguing with her, in front of everyone, everyone else would take her side, except my sister, of course.

Luckily for me, it was a short ride, today. We usually switch off. Every two days we go to the high school first, after that it's the middle school, and after that it's the elementary school. So I was lucky in that one way today.

I couldn't say as much for school. I was more of an outcast. I had a small group of friends, but we were all outcasts, no one liked us, and we didn't particularly like them either. We had fun though. Of course, I didn't want to get too close to anyone here because that would just make it all the harder to leave. And I had to leave, there was no other answer.

I sighed as I walked over to our usual table, seeing that no one was there yet. I sat down, on my usual seat, took out a book called _Twilight_, and started reading. I'm sure that everything around me kept going on, but I was oblivious to it all. I was too lost in the book. This was my favorite book and it always entranced me. Bella, the main character, was the nicest person I had ever read about, and I could just picture Edward, the second main character, every time I read his name, the most beautiful being on the planet.

When Samantha, we call her Sami, tapped me on the shoulder, I jumped out of my seat. I was at the climax of the book and James, the antagonist of the story, was about to lunge at Bella, and since I could see everything clearly, and feel everything, it made me jump.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't realize you were at the climax already." She understood this, they all did. They had actually done the same thing many times before.

I sat back down calmly, smiling warmly at her. Sami was my favorite. She understood me the most. She was the only one that knew of my plans when I turned eighteen. I didn't want to tell the rest. Sami supported me on my idea because I had described to her how much I truly hate that place. Though she didn't want me to leave, she still understood me, and I appreciated that. I would miss her when I left.

"That's ok, Sami. No blood, no foul." Did I tell you that was my favorite quote? Well now you know.

"Well, I was just going to say that it was getting close to being time to go to class."

"Oh," I glanced over at the clock. "Thanks, what day is it again?"

She smiled at me and chuckled a little. "It is Wednesday, Kelsey."

"Oh, thanks, again."

"No problem, now we should go, so we aren't late."

I looked around. People were getting up to leave. I rolled my eyes for the what? Hundredth time today? "Yeah, we should." Unlike most kids, I actually liked school because it meant that I could get away from Donna for seven hours and fifteen minutes. The only thing that I didn't like about it was when it ended and I had to go back to seeing that ugly face again.

I walked to my locker to grab my books, and then I walked to my first class of the day, math. Math was my favorite subject because the teacher couldn't sit there and lecture you all day. I was good at math, actually I was in the advanced group, so I was doing college math at the moment. That class went by fast. Then it was gym, my least favorite class all day. I never liked athletics. A lot of people tell me that I'm good at this or that, but I never go out for sports because, for one, I didn't like sports, and for two, Donna wouldn't pay for it for me, even if I wanted to play.

Today we were playing baseball, one of the games that people have told me that I was good at. It was also the only one that I liked. It took out one of my top reasons, but it left the second reason wide open. The second reason was always going to stay open. I never expected that to change, and neither should anyone else.

Baseball was boring today. I don't know why today was being so totally boring and fast, but it was. I wasn't anticipating anything, that I knew of consciously, so it made no sense to me.

But none the less, I made one home run and hit every ball that was thrown to me, and I got out maybe three or four times. Everyone was glad I was on their team, even though they didn't really know who I was.

My next class was science. We were studying the planets, or more specifically, the moon. My teacher seemed to love the moon. She talked about it all the time, saying that we could have a 'Moon Colony' up there.

If you ask me, I think we could, but it won't happen in this lifetime, maybe the next generation. I liked the moon, but not for the same reasons that she did. I liked that when I looked up at the moon it made me feel happier and safer, which was why I was a 'night owl' as my mom had called me.

My mom was very beautiful, I remembered that. I was only ten when they both died in that car accident. I had tried not to think about them except in the confines of my room where my sister would not see me. She didn't need to see me crying, and I didn't want her to see me.

I shook my head, pushing all my thoughts out of my head so I wouldn't start crying right here. I sat through the class quietly listening. Good thing that next I had lunch. I needed to see all of my friends again. It had been a fast day, but a thought-filled day.

I looked at the lunch menu and decided to go right to the table because I didn't like anything on the menu today. I sat there, waiting for my friends to finish getting their food. The first one to sit down was Sami. She was always first for some reason. She didn't ask about the empty table in front of me. She was good like that. She didn't try to get into your business.

During lunch I mostly stayed quiet. It felt weird, but for some reason I just couldn't find the words and I didn't know what to say. My mind was blank, it was like I was daydreaming, but without the dream.

Sami put her hand on my shoulder and whispered, "Let's go, Kelsey."

I looked up at her then looked around the room. It was almost completely empty. I looked back at her and sighed.

"Sorry," I said.

She shrugged, "It seems like your having an off day, or a very spacious day." She smiled.

"Yeah, something like that." I got up and walked with her to our next class we shared which was English class. Again, the class went by fast and I didn't really pay any attention to the teacher. I would have to see Sami and get what we learned later.

Next I had social studies the most lecture-filled class of the day. I swear that is all the teachers ever did was lecture you the whole time and then give you homework about it. I guessed I would fail that assignment, because I didn't pay attention at all.

I sighed as I walked to Spanish class. I wasn't watching where I was going as I walked through the door and I ran into a guy. I looked up at him, my face red with embarrassment and anger. But when I saw his face, everything else melted away.

"I'm sorry, my fault," he said.

I blinked at that beautiful voice staring at him for a minute. Then I realized that he was waiting for me to say something. "N-no, it was my fault. I wasn't watching where I was going. I'm sorry." I stuttered, and bent over to pick up my stuff that had fallen to the floor.

"Here, let me help you," he picked up my social studies book and a few folders and gave them to me.

"Thanks," I answered putting them with the rest of my accessories.

"See you around."

"Yeah."

I watched him until I couldn't see him in my peripheral vision. I walked to my seat baffled.

I couldn't get his face out of my mind. His blonde highlighted hair was framed around his face and complimented his chocolate-brown eyes. He was perfection. No girl could ever think otherwise. Adding in the manners, there would never be anyone better than him. Whoever had him as her own, was a very lucky girl.

I sighed. I knew I would never be that girl. No guys ever took interests in me, the creepy 'Goth' girl and her terrifying friends. I knew it would never be true.

Soon class was out for the day. I slowly picked up my things.

"Do you need help?" I jumped a little and looked up. It was him.

"N-no, I'm fine. Thanks anyway." I looked away and finished gathering my things. When I stood back up he was still standing there. I stared at him for a minute, wondering why he was still standing next to me.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Kelsey." I started walking to the door.

"Mine's Ian."

Ian… it didn't sound familiar to me. But it matched him. It was a good name. Unique, just like him. A different name and he seemed to be a different kind of guy.

"I don't think I've seen you here before."

"Yeah, I'm new. First day was today."

"Oh, how's this school for you?" I was amazed that I could actually talk to him without stuttering.

"It's pretty good. There are a lot of nice people here."

"Mmmm, yeah I guess."

It was quiet for a little bit. It felt awkward to me.

"Why are you still following me?" I asked. I didn't mean to be rude, but it sort of came out that way.

"I'm sorry. Am I bothering you?"

"No, I was just wondering." I couldn't lie to him and that surprised me. I could usually lie to anyone and I did a good job of it if I really wanted to, but I couldn't bring myself to lie to him.

"Oh, well I was just following you because you seem to know where you're going." He smiled at me.

"Yeah…" I stopped at my locker, "I'm going right here and then I'm going home."

"Oh, I forgot that it was the end of the school day. And I believe that my locker is…" he walked beside me, standing in front of the locker that was supposed to be empty, and said, "here."

"Your locker is right next to mine?"

"Hmmm," he looked at mine then back at his, "apparently it is." He smiled at me again.

I rolled my eyes and opened my locker.

"Wow, your locker is messy."

I looked at him. "So? What's wrong with messy?"

"Nothing's wrong with it, I was just making a statement."

I rolled my eyes again, again noticing that I do that a lot, and turned back to my locker. I grabbed my book bag and stuffed all of my homework in it. When I was sure that I had everything in there, I stood up and slammed my locker door closed. I really hated that thing.

I turned around and found that he had already gotten all of his things in his backpack and he seemed to be ready to leave. I stared at him for a minute, confused.

"What?" He asked.

"How did you do that? I didn't even hear you open the locker door."

"I'm much quieter than you. I don't need to make all the noise."

"But they always make a noise when you open and close them."

"Well mine didn't." He shrugged and started walking.

I stood there for a minute, still confused.

"Are you coming?"

I looked at him, "Yeah, wait up." I ran up to him.

"How do you get home?" He asked.

"I have to wait for her to pick them up."

"You have siblings?"

"Yeah, my sister."

"Oh, so you're the oldest?"

"Yeah, she's in elementary school."

"How old are you?"

"About eighteen and I can't wait to finally be eighteen."

"Why?"

I looked at him and stopped walking, "That is too personal." I gave him a hard look.

"Oh, sorry. I could drive you if you want." I sat down to wait for the van on the blue bench that was close to us.

I considered that for a while, debating if I wanted to get Donna mad or not then said, "I don't think that is a good idea. Donna would get very mad and for some reason I don't feel like making her mad at the moment. It's kind of a weird feeling. Oh well."

"You seem to have a very hard life."

"Yeah, too bad no one appreciates it."

"What do you mean?"

"I suppose you haven't seen the way the kids here treat me, have you?"

"No, why, do they treat you badly?"

"Yeah, because to them I'm the freaky Goth girl with her creepy friends. They will always tease us."

"Then tell them to back off."

"We do, it's not like they are actually going to listen to us."

"Maybe if you believed in yourself then they would."

"What makes you think that I don't believe in myself?"

"You don't seem confident." He looked around. "I should go; my parents will be worried if I'm not home. I'll see you tomorrow." He got up and walked to the only car left in the parking lot.

It was a red pick-up. I stared at it as he drove away. Soon I could see the ugly blue colored van that Donna owned, rolling into the parking lot. I sighed as I walked over to it, knowing that she wouldn't get any closer. She was all the way on the other side of the parking lot; she always found a way to make me walk the most just to get to the van.

I got into the cramped van and Donna drove us all back to the orphanage. I did all my homework in my room and pretty much stayed there the whole night. My sister didn't bother me, she knew that sometimes I just needed to sit in the room alone and think. She had learned that the hard way and looking back now, I felt kind of sorry about it, but if that is what I had to do so she would learn, then that is what I would do.

"It's time for bed Kelsey." I heard Krista say and light streamed in through the door.

I looked at her and said, "Ok, Krista, let's go to bed."

She smiled and ran over to her bed and threw the covers over herself.

She turned back to me and said, "Goodnight, Kelsey, see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Krista, get some rest," I answered.

And soon I drifted off to sleep myself.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The next morning had not changed from the first. Donna was still only yelling at me and I continued to ignore her. But unlike yesterday, my morning went by like a dream. I was there, but I wasn't there. I was listening, but I wasn't listening. These kinds of days happened often, my friends made nothing of them. I liked the silent thoughts that ran through my head sometimes, and when I did want to think about things, I was glad that my friends left me alone to think of them.

At the end of the day, I finally made it to my locker. I was in a daze as I opened it and took out my book bag.

"How was your day?"

I jumped and looked up to see Ian.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I scare you?"

"No blood, no foul. You didn't scare, just startled. I didn't hear you coming."

"Yeah, I've been told that I am a very quiet walker."

"This is true." I smiled at him and turned back to my bag. I finished putting all my books and folders and notebooks in it and then I tried to close it. I had so much homework today, that I was scared that I wouldn't be able to close it, and I had some difficulties until Ian said, "Do you need help with that?"

I looked up at him and then down at my bag. I smiled sympathetically. "Yeah, kinda."

He took the bag from my hands, moved some things around inside, and then closed it with ease. He handed it back to me.

"Thanks, I don't know if I would have been able to close that on my own." We laughed together, just a light laugh, not very loud.

I started walking to the doors and I was stopped by one of my friends, Sami.

She looked at me for a while, and then she said, "Who was that?"

I could tell that she was trying not to seem interested, but I knew very well that she was. "That was Ian," I answered.

"Oh, is he new or something?" She asked nonchalantly.

"Yes, this was his second day."

"Oh." She looked at my face. I was staring straight ahead, but I could see her out of the corner of my eye.

"Is he nice?" She asked, looking straight ahead also.

"Yes, I think so. He has been nice to me, at least."

"What do you think of him?"

I closed my eyes. Exactly what I thought she was thinking. "I don't need a guy in my life right now, Sami, you know that. I'm not going to be here after just a few months. I won't be able to afford it anymore."

Her face fell as I said the words, but I could tell that she knew that I was right.

"I know," she finally said.

I sighed. "I have to go; Donna is going to be enraged with me as it is. I've probably 'kept her waiting' for about a good minute now." I rolled my eyes.

"Ok, I'll talk to you tomorrow, Kelsey."

"Yeah, bye." I waved to her as I walked out the doors to find a really irritated Donna sitting in the van right in front.

I sighed and rolled my eyes again as I got into the car.

"What were you doing? I was about to come in there and get you, and you know that I hate doing that. I was more starting to lean toward leaving you." I let her go on and on with her useless tirade as I paid no mind, ignoring her, which probably enraged her even more.

I was too busy thinking of how much happier I would be when I didn't have to deal with this anymore. I wouldn't have to deal with any of it. It would all be behind me after these few short months went by. The only thing I would have to worry about is Krista. No matter what she chose, I would always have to worry about my baby sister.

That night, she crawled into my bed and asked me to tell her a story. This only happened if she ever worried about something. Usually I didn't ask her what the problem was, because she would just tell me, without me having to ask. So I told her a story, and when the story was finished, she told me what she was worrying about.

I told her not to worry about it, like I always did. She didn't need to worry about anything. I would always be there to help her and sooth her. I would always comfort her when she wanted me to.

I didn't quite understand what she was worried about, she couldn't seem to be able to speak clearly enough for me to understand what she was saying, but just having me there made her feel more comfortable and my soothing words helped too.

Soon she fell asleep in my arms when I had comforted her enough so that she would finally stop crying. I wished that I could fall asleep with her, but my thoughts were racing. I wouldn't be able to sleep in a while. I was thinking about my future, the future I had planned out. But I was also thinking about the future that might happen if I stayed here.

That future didn't go much father than my unhappiness. I didn't even know why I was thinking about it. It must have been just because I knew how much I would miss Sami. She would be the only one that I would miss, I was sure of it. I wouldn't let anyone else creep into my head so much that I would miss them. That would only keep me here longer. And I knew that I didn't want that.

Sometime in the middle of the night, my thoughts became dreams, dreams of my two possible futures. First was the future that I had had planned out since I first came to the orphanage, it was supposed to be my happy future, but it seemed dismal and lonely. Though, in the dream, I still had Krista, I was still very lonely; it felt almost like there was something, someone, missing.

At least I had a house of my own, or actually, I think it was an apartment, but I still was able to get a roof over our heads. But I wasn't happy and I didn't understand why.

But then, suddenly, it changed. The whole dream changed all at once. I was suddenly at school. I was so much happier than I was in the other world.

I didn't understand it. This was obviously my other future, the future that was supposed to be completely empty and lifeless, but I was really happy to be staying at school and with Donna. It didn't make any sense to me.

I was sitting next to Sami and I was actually talking to everyone at the table. Usually I just sat and talked with Sami or I would read the time away. Why was this so different?

Then everyone at the table started to giggle and look behind me. I started to slowly turn around, but that was when I was awakened by Donna's horrible screaming of my name. And so the daily routine started again. I sighed as I rolled out of bed, shaking my sister lightly next to me so she would wake up too.

She blinked lazily at me.

"It's time to get up, sweetie," I said soothingly. I rubbed her arm until she finally got out of the bed and started getting ready herself.

"How are you feeling today, Krista?"

"I'm ok," she mumbled sleepily.

"That's good," I answered.

I walked into the bathroom, combed through my hair and brushed my teeth, going through the dream in my head again, still trying to make sense of it, but it wasn't happening.

I was glad when I was finally done and I was earlier than usual, this meant that I could think in silence while I waited for the others to finish up.

My dream puzzled me so much. Why was the one that was supposed to be the horrible future, so vibrant and happy in my dream? It didn't make sense. I knew I would be alone when I left the orphanage, and I knew it would be hard, but I never guessed that the life that I had now would be better than that life. It made me really scared to find out what might happen in that life. I was taking second thoughts. That wasn't good.

When we got to the school, I did something that I usually never do; I sat and listened to the others talk. I didn't know why I was doing this, it made me scared to think of the reasons, but I was listening to their conversation, I didn't say anything, but I listened. I didn't let myself think too much into my reasons; I was too scared of them.

I saw Sami look at me from the corner of her eye and I knew she was wondering what I was doing. If she ever asked, I would have to think of a reason to tell her, maybe one that I could believe myself, instead of telling her the real reason.

It seemed like only seconds had passed and the final bell rang for first period. I dragged into the life of school. We all hated it, it was normal for a kid to feel that way, but I didn't hate it quite as much as the rest of them did. I knew my time here was more limited than theirs was, so I respected the time I had. I tried to get the best grades that I could because I knew I would need those all too soon. Sadly, I wasn't even going to finish high school. I was going to be close, but I didn't think I was going to be able to finish it. I wouldn't be able to pay for it anymore.

Before I knew it, it was lunch already. Today I decided to sit at my own table, hoping that I would be able to sit there and think some more. I glanced at Sami as I walked by. She looked at me quizzically, but she let it go, she knew when I needed time to think, I liked her for that.

No one usually paid any mind to my little group, much less me, so I was surprised when I heard someone sit down next to me. I looked up at the person, half expecting it to be a prep to come bug me and tease me for 'not having any friends', but then I saw Ian sitting next to me.

I looked at him for a minute and blinked, trying to make him disappear, but he didn't. My face became quizzical.

"I'm sorry; did you not want me to sit with you? I'll leave."

"No, its ok," I said just before he got up. "I just wasn't expecting it."

"Oh, sorry, I just wanted to sit with you, you looked lonely."

"Thanks. I feel kind of lonely."

"Well then why are you sitting here instead of with your friends?"

"Because I kind of needed to think to myself a little."

"Oh, I'm sorry; I'm disturbing that, aren't I?"

"No, its ok, I was kind of finished. I guess it was just the shock."

"What were you thinking about?"

"My plans."

"Your plans for what?"

"My life."

"I don't understand what you mean. You have plans for your life?"

"Yes, I've had the same plan since I was sent to the orphanage at the age of ten."

"You live at the orphanage?"

I paused. I did not mean to tell him that, it just sort of slipped out, just like everything else had. I guess I wasn't really paying attention to the conversation as much as I should have been.

"Yeah, I do. My parents died in a car accident."

"Oh, that's sad, I'm sorry."

"No, its fine. I mean, I miss them, but I was able to put it behind me a long time ago. No blood, no foul, right?"

"Yeah, I guess. So what is your plan?"

Dang it, I was hoping he would have forgotten about that little slip. It made me mad that now I had to tell him.

"I'm leaving," I whispered.

"You're what?"

"I'm leaving," I whispered again, I didn't want to say it again, not to him. It felt wrong to tell him that I was leaving, I didn't understand that. I could barely even whisper it to him. It just felt completely out of place coming from my mouth. I caught myself wondering why I was saying the words, but I banished it before I could answer it.

"You're leaving?"

"Yes," I breathed.

"Why?"

"That is a long story that will have to be saved for another time. It is about time for the late bell."

He looked at the clock behind him. "Oh, I guess it is." He turned back to me. "Will you tell me the story at your locker after school?"

"That depends on how fast Donna gets here." I rolled my eyes.

He gave me a quizzical look.

"I'll try to tell you at our lockers." I got up and walked out the door.

Sami was waiting for me there, great. She smiled when she saw me, and I rolled my eyes.

When I finally met her at the door she said, "So what was that all about? Did you go over there especially so he could sit next to you?"

"No, I went over there to think. He came over because he thought I looked alone."

"So he wanted to give you some company; that is so sweet." She smiled again.

"Sure, I don't care. I'm leaving in a few months, wait, I think it is only one… I can't remember."

"You can't remember? You were counting down the days in your head, I know you were. What happened?"

"Nothing, leave me alone, I have to get to class."

"Ok, whatever." And with that, we went our separate ways to our separate classes.

Before I knew it, I was at my locker again for the end of the school day. I noticed Ian walked up to his locker out of the corner of my eye and I quickly finished gathering my things.

"Hey, Kelsey. Do you think you have enough time to tell me that story now?"

"I have to go wait outside, otherwise I'll miss her, but I think I might have time," I answered; I really didn't want to tell him about any of this. I sighed as we walked out to the parking lot where I had to wait for Donna. I sat on the closest bench to us, it was blue, one of the school colors which were blue and gold. It was the middle of spring, and everything looked so green and vibrant, kind of like my dream… but I wasn't here to think about that, I was here to talk about my plan, my plan for leaving.

Ian sat next to me and waited for me to say something.

"My plan for leaving, right? That's what you wanted to know?"

"I wanted to know why you wanted to leave."

"Oh, right. That would be because of many reasons. For one, I don't like her. I hate Donna, the caretaker, or so you could call her, to me she is nothing but an ugly woman with no life of her own."

"Why do you hate her so much?"

"I hated her first, and then she hated me because I wasn't like the others, I didn't listen to whatever she said like they did. All they wanted was to get adopted, but I don't. I swore to myself that I wouldn't get adopted, I wouldn't let anyone say that they were my parents. No one could replace them, and I won't let anyone try."

"So you want to leave because you don't want anyone to replace your parents, and you hate your caretaker?"

"Yes," I whispered. It was still so hard to tell him that I was leaving him. That was just it, I was leaving _him_. I couldn't leave him, it seemed physically and mentally impossible now. I was falling in love with him.

Suddenly I heard the honk of Donna's van and my head jerked up to look at it. She was just coming into the parking lot.

I looked back at Ian. I couldn't tell what I was feeling; they were all mixed up inside me. I was lucky that I was able to speak. "I have to go." My voice broke. I started to get up to leave but he grabbed my wrist.

"Wait, when are you leaving?" He asked.

"My birthday is in about a month. I can't leave now, only when I'm eighteen."

"You're still here for a month? Ok." He said.

I almost cried right there. I wanted to run into his arms and tell him that I wasn't going anywhere, I was where I belonged, but I couldn't. I knew what I needed to do. I had always said that no one would make me stay with this life.

"Bye." My voice cracked again.

"Bye," he answered and let go of my hand.

I ran to the van and got in quickly, ignoring the jibs from Donna and sitting quietly, concentrating on not crying.

I couldn't focus on my homework that night. I couldn't even really see the pages, but I finished it, meaning they were all wrong. After homework was finished, I had some chores to do and then I went to bed, laying there, just thinking. Trying to figure out my feelings.

I was pretty sure that I understood what the dream meant now, I was happy in this life because I had found the one that I wanted to be with.

In that one instant when I figured it out, my whole perspective on life had changed. Maybe it wasn't so bad to stay here for the rest of the school year. No, there was something wrong with it. I didn't want to get involved with this; I didn't need to be hurt again. I could handle the month, but nothing farther than that. And that is my decision.


End file.
